Wednesday, February 20, 2013

"Everything Is Possible To Him Who Dares"

"The genius of our institutions is democratic - Base Ball is a democratic game."

Albert Goodwill Spalding (1850-1915)

Without knowing his full name, everyone knows of Al Spalding.

When I was 11 years old I desperately
wanted to play on a little league baseball team. But that required that
I have a baseball glove.

The one I really wanted was a Spalding
glove. But it cost $10 and my mother thought that was too expensive and
"fancy" for a beginner. So I got a cheaper glove. It wasn't as good
as the Spalding, but such is life.

We associate the Spalding name with sports - equipment, balls, endorsements, you name it.

The Boston Herald in 1880 said that next to
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, Al Spalding was the next
most famous name in literature! He really made his mark.

What does he mean by the democratic
institutions comment? Probably that baseball is a team game. It is
made of individuals. Some will shine and star, others will complete the
team. But that all work together for the common goal. If individuals
don't work together the ultimate potential cannot be reached.

Albert Spalding began his professional
baseball career in 1871 as a pitcher for the Boston Red Stockings. He
was a straight-armed, UNDERHAND pitcher! And he was good! He played
for them from 1871 to 1875, leading the league each year in pitched
victories. In 1874 he pitched in ALL of Boston's games and went 57-5 in
1875. He also batted .320. He was quite an athlete.

In 1876 he helped organize the National
League of baseball, consisting of 7 teams in the east and as far west as
Chicago. However, pitching so often he blew out his arm and retired in
1877 at the age of 28.

Playing his last year of 1877 in Chicago, in 1876
he and his brother started a sporting goods company where, according to
the Chicago Tribune, it was "a large emporium in Chicago where he will
sell all kinds of baseball goods and turn his place into the
headquarters for the Western Ball Clubs." He called it A. G. Spalding
& Brothers.

One thing he sold was a leather baseball
glove of his own design. In 1877, while not pitching but playing first
base, he wore the glove. He had an ulterior motive in doing so - it
advertised the glove, and as one of the sport's biggest stars it drove
buyers to his store!

His store became the dominant sporting good
store of the era. It is still dominant today! His company
standardized the first baseballs and pioneered the modern design for the
baseball bat, with it's bulging end.

A fierce businessman, he began allowing
other retailers to buy directly from his catalog in 1899. He also
instituted a corporate policy of "quality, fixed retail prices, a fair
profit to retailers, and consumer satisfaction." For a few years there
he managed what could really be called a little monopoly! It was short
lived, however.

It seems he was a wholesaler and retailer at the same time!

His company slogan became "Quality First."

His company is a fine example of free enterprise finding its niche and employing itself in growth and opportunity.

The game game of baseball began losing
favor among fans, called kranks. And so, as owner of the Chicago White
Stockings from 1882 to 1891, he instituted policies to clean up the
game. He forbade gambling, drinking of alcohol among players, and any
form of player collusion. By 1888 the game began to shine again.

In 1911 he wrote and published America's National Game, which is still considered the first scholarly account of the history of baseball.

Today Spalding is known for its baseball
equipment, particularly balls, basketballs as the official NBA supplier
since 1983 and was the first company to sign a professional to an
endorsement in 1951.

Albert Goodwill Spalding was elected to the
Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1939. He became the free market example of
his personal motto: "Everything is possible to him who dares."

That
philosophy is the essence of free enterprise, a free-market economy and
the kind of individualism that helped this country grow. It cannot be created by gubment policy. That motto's
fulfillment is not possible in any other economic system.

About Me

I'm just a self-employed American home inspector worried about the direction of our country. Specifically, my worry concerns how many Americans view free market economics, free enterprise and American capitalism - derisively! This blog is to educate and inform. And participate in the debate.